


mismatched

by bapaldeul



Series: we shared a moment that will last till the end [1]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fashion Disasters, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, equally whipped jihoon, whipped daniel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-23 23:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13201122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bapaldeul/pseuds/bapaldeul
Summary: jihoon is a fashion disaster and daniel really doesn't have the heart to tell the cute boy that.or: daniel is a part-timer who is w h i p p e d for the cute customer that looks like a mess





	mismatched

**Author's Note:**

> one-shot of full fluff? is this really bapaldeul? who knows anymore

Daniel likes to think he has one of the best part-time jobs to exist. It’s nothing special; he’s sure there are tens of thousands of other people who work part-time in a clothing store but it’s the company and environment that makes his job so much more special.

First, he has one of the best managers to ever exist; and he knows from experience good managers are hard to come by. Daniel is beyond blessed to have met Jisung, who manages their branch right in the heart of Myeongdong. Jisung is much more than a nice manager who pays him well and on time; he’s also the person Daniel goes to first to seek life advice from.

“Take the leap,” Jisung had told him one day when Daniel asked him why Jisung had left his full-time average paying job to study fashion design in college again. “I wasn’t happy with my 9 to 5 job, I felt like I needed to put my passion somewhere better.”

Also, Jisung has always been there to back Daniel up whenever he has to deal with difficult customers. 

Daniel likes to roll his eyes when customers demand to “see the manager” and smiles smugly when Jisung arrives to repeat the exact thing he’d said before to the customer. Jisung trusts Daniel to do his job well, which is why Daniel feels so accepted in his job, even though it’s only temporary before his vacation ends.

The second reason are his friends, Jaehwan and Seongwoo. The three hit it off almost immediately. Seongwoo was the first to work here, and then Daniel came along. Jaehwan joined the duo almost two weeks after Daniel started work, and even though they were from different colleges, they talked as if they had been friends for years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Looking good today, Danny boy,” Seongwoo coos from the fitting room station. “Have a date today?”

Before Daniel can reply something equally sarcastic, he hears Jaehwan whistle from the cashier. “He’s just trying to look his best in case a cute customer walks in today.”

“Am not!” Daniel protests while arranging the clothes at the aisle near the entrance, although he’s smiling to himself.

Another thing he loves working at a clothing store? He gets to dress up every day – Jisung has no regulations. “Just don’t embarrass me,” was all his manager had said when he was accepted for the job. 

“I don’t recall paying all of you to be talking,” Jisung muses from his corner of the store, probably checking the stocks and counting the money before the day begins.

“Hyung,” Seongwoo whines, comfortable enough to be joking with their manager. “You wouldn’t exchange us for the world.”

Jisung sighs, and says without missing a beat, “I would. I really would. Let’s get ready to open. Daniel, you can do it today.”

Daniel runs to finish hanging up the clothes in his hands and prepares to open the doors for today. He passes by a mirror on the way, and makes a note to check his hair. 

Hair, check. Clothes, check. Face? Doing alright.

“Love is an open door,” Daniel hums a familiar tune to the movie he’d watched yesterday as he rolls the shutters open and almost chokes on thin air when there’s someone standing right in front of him.

 _Love is truly an open door_ , Daniel thinks to himself hazily as he continues to stand frozen in his spot, starstruck by the boy before him.

“Hi?” 

The boy’s voice snaps Daniel out of his daydream, and suddenly remembers that he has to be professional when he’s at work. (Although he’s sure gawking at the cute boy in front of him spells _anything_ but professional.)

“Oh,” Daniel sputters. He puts on an easy smile, “You’re here early, we just opened. Come on in.”

The boy follows Daniel into the store, and he sees Seongwoo flashing a friendly smile at the boy from his station. Damn it, Ong Seongwoo, always so natural with the smiles. Jisung turns on the music, and the familiar piano beats to the newest boy group in town fill the surroundings.

“Anything in particular you’re looking for today?” Daniel asks, half-glancing at the boy who looks lost as he aimlessly looks through a few denim jackets he’d hung up from before.

He’s aware how much of an exception he’s making for this boy. Usually, he’d let customers do the shopping on their own, only coming to their side if they asked him a question first.

_(But how can he let a chance like this fly away so easily?)_

“Not really,” the boy replies, moving on to the next aisle of clothes and Daniel follows quickly behind him. “My roommate says he’s not going to let me back into the room until I get some normal clothes, so here I am.”

That’s when Daniel notices what the boy is actually wearing. For lack of better words, the boy looks like a fashion disaster. He wonders how he didn’t notice it at first; then blames it on the boy’s pretty face that completely overwrites his poor fashion choices.

The boy has paired a normal looking striped shirt with a red, checkered flannel. The two pieces of clothing look fine separately; but everyone knows you can’t pair stripes with checks. 

Surprisingly, the boy’s jeans look normal. Daniel thinks the bandana around the boy’s thigh is a nice accessory to have and makes a mental note to try that out one day.

Daniel can’t decide if his mismatched socks and laces are cringey or cute.

But for the life of everyone in this store, Daniel can’t find it in himself to tell the cute boy that he thinks he looks like a fashion disaster as well.

“I think you look fine,” Daniel says.

The boy looks up and meets Daniel’s eyes. At that point, Daniel isn’t even sure he’s thinking anymore because he’s so captivated by the cute boy’s eyes. 

After a few awkward seconds, the boy turns back to look at the clothes. 

Daniel is afraid he’s just made this whole situation really awkward for everyone, until the cute boy smiles. 

“You’re the first person to say that,” he says. “That means a lot to me, so thank you.”

Daniel isn’t sure if his face is red from embarrassment but he’s thankful that none of his colleagues are in sight to witness him being a mess in front of a customer. A few more people have walked into the store since, and everyone is busy trying to cater to their needs. Even Jisung doesn’t notice Daniel making small talk with a cute customer, so he’s in the clear.

“I wish I could pull bright colours off like you,” Daniel says, scratching his head shyly. 

“Nonsense,” the cute boy retorts. “You look so effortlessly cool in these clothes. And your choker? I really love it.”

Daniel’s positive he’s going to burst if the cute boy continues to compliment him. He thanks his guardian angels for helping him have the confidence to wear a choker to work today.

“T-thank you,” Daniel stutters. “I could show you some cool stuff we have here, if you want.”

A grin immediately appears on the cute boy’s face as he clasps his hands together happily. “Yes, please. I don’t want to look like a loner, so if you’re not busy I would really appreciate your opinion.”

“Of course!” Daniel agrees. “I’m not busy at all.”

He lies easily through his teeth; although he knows there’s probably a pile of clothes Jisung has for him to fold or hang up. But those can wait.

“Thank you-“ the cute boy pauses to squint at Daniel’s nametag.

“Daniel,” he helps the boy out. 

“Daniel,” the boy confirms. He holds out his hand and says, “I’m Jihoon.”

 _Jihoon. Is a pretty boy allowed to have an equally pretty name like Jihoon?_ Daniel is starting to think that life isn’t really fair to people like him.

“Jihoon,” he repeats while shaking Jihoon’s hand. He likes the way Jihoon’s name rolls of his tongue so easily. 

(Also, Jihoon’s hands are so soft and warm.)

“Well, a few new jeans have just arrived in store. Denim jackets also sell fast around here. We have many shirts that I think would really suit you as well.”

Daniel has a million and one things he think would look good on Jihoon, but decides to tone his enthusiasm down for now.

“I do need some new jeans,” Jihoon muses as he follows Daniel around to the denim section.

Daniel looks through the many jeans they have. Acid-washed, which he thinks aren’t right for this time of the year. White ones were classy; but were they too over-the-top for school? He picks out a pair of black skinny jeans.

“These are basic, but trust me when I say they’ve saved me countless times when I have no idea what to pair with a top,” Daniel explains. 

The good thing about black jeans? They made you look effortlessly good and paired well with any colour top you were planning to wear out that night.

“Plus,” Daniel adds. “They make your legs look longer.”

“Are you saying I’m short?” Jihoon snaps, making Daniel explode into a fit of giggles. He has no idea why; but Jihoon’s annoyed expression is so cute, it makes him laugh.

“Of course not,” Daniel says when he finally manages to contain his laughter. “I’m saying you would look really good in these jeans.”

Daniel takes a pair of jeans with him once he estimates Jihoon’s waist size and moves on to the jackets section.

He doesn’t even have the chance to begin recommending their hot-selling jackets when Jihoon rushes to a pink hoodie sitting at the end of the aisle.

“Wow,” Jihoon gushes as his fingers brush over the material of the hoodie. “It’s so soft and pretty.”

Daniel barely manages to bite down his tongue before he says something really stupid like, “Yeah, like you.”

“You like it?” Daniel asks. “I have the exact same one in red at home. It’s really comfortable, especially when you’re trying to sleep in lectures.”

“I love it,” Jihoon says, immediately taking one off the aisle and naturally puts it into Daniel’s arms along with his jeans. Not that Daniel minds though, he’s already made up his mind to follow this boy around like a butler if it’s what he has to do to keep his attention.

Daniel still makes Jihoon try out some popular windbreakers and bomber jackets. He almost makes Jihoon take a denim jacket before he refuses; saying he has one at home.

“Here are the shirts,” Daniel says, presenting a large array of tops for Jihoon to choose from. Jisung is an amazing man really, to be able to design so many pretty shirts.

A few immediately catch Jihoon’s eye, and he speeds off to pick them up. Daniel gets ready to follow his enthusiastic customer when he feels someone nudge his shoulder.

“He’s cute,” Seongwoo whispers into Daniel’s ear when he turns around to see his friend walking past with a pile of clothes in his arms. “Is that why you’re pretending to not notice the large pile of clothes that need some hanging up?”

Daniel immediately turns red and turns around to make sure that Jihoon isn’t listening in to their conversation.

He isn’t; he’s busy looking at a yellow striped shirt just a few aisles down.

“Shut up,” Daniel says. He then gives Seongwoo what his friends call ‘the puppy look’ and adds, “Will you please leave me alone just for today? I took over your shift last week.”

Seongwoo narrows his eyes at Daniel, then nods.

“Fine. But keep your tongue in your mouth, it’s too obvious you’re in love with him.”

Daniel is about to protest that he’s definitely not in love when Seongwoo speeds away, attending to a lady that needs help.

“Daniel!” he hears Jihoon wave him down from where he’s standing, and he has the brightest smile on his face as he holds out a few pieces of shirts that he wants Daniel to approve.

That’s when he realises that Seongwoo is horribly right – his poor heart is helplessly in love with the cute fashion disaster; and it hasn’t even been an hour since they met.

Once they reach a limit on the number of clothes Jihoon can bring with him into the fitting room, Daniel shows him to the room while he waits outside for Jihoon to try them on.

He’s never been the one sitting on the sofa outside the waiting rooms before. Sometimes, he’s in charge of assigning the fitting rooms to customers and that’s the closest he’s ever come to their fitting rooms. 

Daniel meets eyes with Minhyun, who is busy assigning rooms today.

He likes Minhyun; he always has a genuine smile on his face. Although Daniel hasn’t had a lot of time to talk to the other man, it’s obvious that he’s nice and caring like everyone says.

“Wow, I never had to give a customer my opinion outside the fitting room before,” Minhyun chuckles.

“Never have I,” Daniel agrees. “But that’s our job, isn’t it?

“Oh Daniel,” Minhyun shakes his head. “I don’t think you’re doing this just for the job.”

Before Daniel can ask exactly what Minhyun means by that, he hears the lock of Jihoon’s door unlock and holds his breath; not knowing what to expect. Has he made the right choices? What if he makes Jihoon look like a joke in front of everyone else?

“Am I supposed to be able to breathe in these jeans?” 

Aside from Jihoon’s obvious discomfort with the jeans, Daniel thinks he looks breath-taking. He’s gotten rid of the slightly baggy jeans from before. The skinny jeans show off his legs perfectly, and Daniel can’t help but smile at his choice.

“You look amazing,” Daniel lets slip.

“That’s very nice of you and all,” Jihoon sighs. “But these jeans feel like they’re stuck to my skin.”

“That’s what skinny jeans are supposed to feel like,” Daniel protests. “Don’t you like them?”

Jihoon looks at himself in the mirror for a little while and ponders over it. 

“I suppose they look fine-“

“Yes!” Daniel interrupts. “Trust me. Now, go try on the other clothes.”

Of course, the other choices are as good as the skinny jeans. Daniel convinces Jihoon that he looks good in all of them and Jihoon accuses Daniel of lying to him so that he’s made to spend more money at their store.

“I’m not done,” Jihoon says after they leave the fitting room. 

They’ve decided on keeping a few shirts, the pink hoodie and of course, the skinny jeans.

“I want to look at the accessories too,” Jihoon says, pointing to their accessory corner. 

Daniel nods in agreement – more time with Jihoon; how can he disagree?

“I’ll put these at the cashier for you first,” Daniel offers.

“Okay,” Jihoon says before bonding off to the other side of the shop as Daniel walks over to where Jaehwan is working. He places Jihoon’s clothes carefully at the back of the counter and makes sure to mark it as his.

Jaehwan clears his throat and Daniel looks up at his friend.

“What?”

“ _What?_ ” Jaehwan repeats in a mocking voice. “Everyone can see that you’re acting like a lovesick puppy right now.”

Daniel feels the blush greet his cheeks again and turns away to make sure that his friend doesn’t see it. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Daniel says, patting his friend on the back before walking away. “Work hard.”

“Ask him for his number!” Jaehwan calls out, completely disregarding the other customers in the store. A few of them turn to stare at Daniel, who is very red in the face, and he makes a mental note to take care of Jaehwan later.

 _Ask for his number, my foot_ , Daniel thinks. He’s probably never going to see Jihoon again. After today, they’re both going to return to their very normal lives.

He barely manages to calm his wildly beating heart when he re-enters the accessory section and sees Jihoon being attended to by one of his other colleagues; Jinyoung.

Daniel has half a mind to chicken out right now and let Jinyoung do his job. The again, for some strange reason, his feet can’t leave the accessory section. He gulps nervously and walks up to Jinyoung and Jihoon.

“Hey, Jinyoung,” he tries to greet casually.

“Hey, hyung,” Jinyoung says back. Jinyoung is a nice kid, but Daniel hasn’t really talked to him much; and he knows he’s acting too bro-ish with Jinyoung right now.

“Do you need any help?” Daniel asks, hoping Jinyoung will take the hint and walk away. 

Unfortunately, Jinyoung just blinks and says, “Um, not really? We’re doing fine on our own.”

Daniel cringes internally and prepares himself to walk away from Jihoon. After all, what is he supposed to say? Hi, I actually have a major crush on the customer you’re attending to right now so I would appreciate if you let me help him out instead, thank you?

“Cool,” Daniel manages before turning.

“Wait,” Jihoon calls out. “Sorry, Daniel was helping me from before. I actually have something to ask him, if that’s okay.”

Daniel thinks his heart is going to come out of his throat. 

_The cute boy spoke up for me!_

“Oh, sure,” Jinyoung shrugs. “He’s all yours, Niel hyung.”

Sure enough, Jinyoung quickly leaves them alone and goes to tend to another customer instead. 

“So uh… what were you looking at?” Daniel asks, hoping Jihoon won’t say anything about what just happened.

He doesn’t. Instead, he points to the rounded glasses he was looking at from before.

“Do you think these are cute?”

_I think you are cute._

“Sure,” Daniel says quickly to save himself again. “You should try them on.”

Jihoon does try them on, and Daniel is right. Jihoon looks very, very cute in those glasses. If Jihoon wasn’t going to buy it for himself, Daniel would buy it for Jihoon himself.

Daniel reaches out to help Jihoon put it into a basket, and their fingers meet. Daniel knows it’s so cliché, but he swears time does stop for a few seconds right then, and he’s afraid that somehow Jihoon can hear his heart about to jump out of his chest right then.

“Oh! What a pretty beret,” Jihoon says awkwardly as he walks to the side and pretends to fiddle with a black beret on the shelf.

It takes Daniel seconds to remind himself to be professional, and forces a smile at Jihoon again.

“I think you could pull off a beret really well,” Daniel says.

“I believe you,” Jihoon says, putting on the beret and looks at himself in the mirror. A satisfied smile meets his lips and he places the beret into the basket that Daniel is holding. “And of course, you were right. Again.”

“Lastly,” Jihoon clicks his tongue as he walks over to another aisle. “After seeing how pretty the choker looked on you, I made up my mind to get one myself.”

Daniel has to pinch himself to make sure that he’s not dreaming. He follows silently behind Jihoon as he looks through the selection of chokers they have on display.

Jihoon picks up one and hands it to Daniel.

“Could you help me put it on?”

“Of course,” Daniel agrees immediately.

Once he fastens the clasp on the back of the choker, he asks, “Is it too tight?”

“No, it’s just perfect,” Jihoon replies, “I really like it.”

Jihoon ends up getting the choker as well and they walk to the cashier together. Daniel doesn’t care if he makes it look too obvious that he’s dragging his feet towards the cashier; he doesn’t want this to end.

“We have other branches in other parts of town as well,” Daniel says, remembering how Jisung used to nag at him to promote their other branches as well. He leads Jihoon to an empty cashier counter and says, “Here, I’ll do it for you myself.”

“There’s no point in going to those branches,” Jihoon sighs as Daniel begins to scan his items. 

“Why?” 

“You’re not there.”

Daniel stops in his tracks, the black skinny jeans still half-folded. He chews on his lower lip nervously, debating as to whether he should really take Jaehwan’s advice and ask Jihoon for his number. 

“I’ll take all these,” Jihoon gestures to his clothes, then picks out a bracelet from the front of the counter (they were going for a dollar a piece, and all proceeds would be donated to charity), “And one of this too.”

“Sure,” Daniel smiles. “Thanks for donating.”

“And-“

“And?” Daniel repeats. “Is there anything else you need?”

“And your number, please.”

Daniel stares at Jihoon to make sure the other boy isn’t pulling his leg. Jihoon’s face expression doesn’t change at all.

“Are you serious?” Daniel asks.

“Unless I was reading the signs wrong, I’m sorry,” Jihoon says, lowering his gaze to the ground. “I just thought maybe you-“

“No,” Daniel interrupts. He quickly scribbles his number on Jihoon’s receipt and hands it over to the boy. “Gave you a staff discount as well, make sure you come back again.”

Jihoon’s lips curl to form into a smile and Daniel thinks it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen in his life. He scans the receipt and his eyes linger a little longer at Daniel’s number at the end.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back,” Jihoon insists, and their fingers meet again when Daniel passes Jihoon the bag of clothes.

This time, there’s no mistaking it. Their fingers linger longer than before, and they exchange the same knowing smile.

“Call me,” Daniel lowers his voice so only Jihoon can hear it.

“I will.”

Jihoon doesn’t forget to turn around and wave goodbye to Daniel one last time before he disappears out the door, his mismatched socks and laces following.

Daniel really does have the best part-time job of all time.

**Author's Note:**

> so that happened. 
> 
> :) comments and feedback are always appreciated and loved by me!!
> 
> take care always <3


End file.
